US 7th Armored Division

The 7th Armored Division was an armored division of the US Army that was active from 1 March 1942 to 9 October 1945 and from 1950 to 1953, serving in World War II. The division landed on Omaha and Utah Beaches in Normandy from 13 to 14 August 1944, and it was a part of the US XX Corps of George S. Patton's US Third Army. On 18 August, it captured Chartres, and it pushed through northern France until it came up against the German fortress of Metz in September. On 15 September 1944, the division crossed the Moselle, but it was repulsed in its attacks across the Seille River. On 25 September, the division was transferred to the US Ninth Army, and it protected the right flank of Operation Market Garden. From 30 September to 8 October 1944, it fought in the Battle of Overloon, and it also fought at the Battle of Meijel from October to November, when it transferred to Maastricht. The division fought at the Battle of the Bulge from December 1944 to January 1945, and it pushed into Germany with the US V Corps in the spring of 1945. The division took part in the encirclement of the Ruhr Pocket, forcing the LIII Panzer Corps to surrender. The division ended the war on the Baltic Sea, and it lost a total of 5,799 casualties (898 dead, 3,811 wounded, 165 missing, and 925 captured) during the war. From 1950 to 1953, it was reactivated during the Korean War, but it stayed in California until it was deactivated.